Press sealing head for wrapping and sealing edibles



P. A. TERRY PRESS SEALING HEAD FOR WRAPPING AND SEALING EDIBLES FiledFeb. 8, 1950 2 SHEETS-SHEET l x INVENTOR ,Bgyimz (afar ATTORNEY P. A.TERRY Oct. 14, 1952 PRESS SEALING HEAD FOR WRAPPING AND SEALING EDIBLES2 SHEETS--SHEET 2 Filed Feb. 8, 1950 a. Terry, S 4

ATTORNEYQ Patented Oct. 14, 1952 UNITED, STATES cam-cs PRESSSEALING-HEAD FOR WRAPPING AND SEALING EDIBLES...

lfayton AQTerry, Bristol, 'va. ApplicationFebruary 8, 1950, Serial No.14 2;97-2.

chine which will quickly. seal an ediblearticle, so as to hermeticallyseal-the contentslthercof from the atmosphere.

Another object of theinventionis. to provide a sealing and cuttinghead:which in a. single operation crimps theedges of thexsealingpaper such ascellophane around the outer circumference or edge of the'confection, andas. part of the operation, trims the material aroundisaid edges.

Yet another object of the; invention is to. provide a sealing andcutting head' whereby in a single operation the layers; ofthepa'perabove and below the article arecaused't becrimped and sealedand simultaneously trimmed about the circumference-of the article. 7

A further object of the invention is to provide airinge of crimped paperwhich extends in substantially the same lane as lthegplane of the' topsurface of the confection afterthetrimmingoperation has taken place.

Additional objects will be found. throughout the specification.

In the drawings, I 1 Figure 1 isaperspective wiewtofi the head inposition for receivingzan article to be wrapped.

Figure 2 is a vertical?sectionthrough tlie center of the headwith partsshowninperspective.

Figure 3 is atop planiv'iewl'ofthe-lower :section of the head" andshowing'a"broken away'portion of the confection resting ionisaid' head.

Figure 4 is a horizontalr section taken along the line 4-4 of Figure 2.I

Figure 5 is a plan viewlookingupwardly.on the line 5-5 of Figure/2.

Figure 6 is a sideelevation ofeawrapped'lconfection and,

Figure 7 is a vertical sectionalview partly broken away :of: theconfection 'shown in -Figure 6.

In the drawings A: is'the-uppersection or the head and B is thelowerisectionotglsaidhead.

that may be connected to anysuitablesource of The sleeve l'isadjustably:supportedl on the stationary support rod 2 by screw bolts 3.

Extending from the-sleeve-is an arm 4 'for supporting the upper. sectionA. This'sectionhas anupperportion 5, and attached below the shoulder-6-is a cutting ring I which: is removably attached to upper portioni byone or more screws 8 as seen in Figure2.

. The lower end of the. cutting ring; isprovided with a beveled portion=97 which ends in. a cutting edgefll). r

Mounted within the space .H. formed bythe ring 1 isa former I2.This-former, is moved downwardly by one or more :coiled-springs-fasindicated bytheinumeral w. The lower ends of these springsare seatedinlrecesses M in the former and their upperends, bear against-the .flat

under side. I 5 ofthe uppenportioni. The-springs continuously force Itheformer in- -adownward direction. Downward movement however, is

arrested by rod l6. The'stop'rod 1.6,, whichis provided witha head I'lthat seats. in a lower recess I8, of former I2.

There. is an additional lower recess l9 for heatingplate 20 as shown 'inFigures 2 and .5.

the space I I.

Preferably. spaced 'circumferentially about the stop rod [6 areaplurality of.-heating rods.-.22.

The lower ends ofthese rods:exten'dsubstantially to heating plate 20,and..they-are.fixed to'the formen-so that'theytoo ifloat with theiormerin space H. In doing so, they. slide in recesses 23 in upper portion 5.The-heating rods are'pro- 'vided with heads 24, andisaid heatingrodsiare also provided with suitable electric'conductors 25 electricalpotential, not shown.

The floating former l2v istprovided with .a circumferential'series :ofteeth. 26 which aextend from the lower. peripheraledge. upwardly which Iterminate. at the shoulder :21. These zteeth'have horizontal extensions28. ThGSB hOIiZOHtBJ- GX- tensions terminate at the additional lower re-:cess- I9.

It willbe'rnoted that therlowerinnerperiph- 5 is serrated.

. circumferential paper extensions.-

. extensions have been indicated by the Figures 6 and 7.

- Following this operation the lower sectionde- The entire upper sectionA is stationary except the floating former l2 and the springs l3 andheating rod 22 that move with it, during the upward movement of thelower section B now to be described.

This lower section is also provided with teeth 30 which extendperipherally around the lower section. These teeth have horizontalextensions 3| which mesh with horizontal extensions 28 during theforming operation! Sin'ce'the horizontal portions 28 of teeth 26 meshwith horizontal portions 3| of teeth 30, the cutter's inemail teeth 29may ngage teeth so when the 1 former has been caused to move upwardly bythe upward movement of the lower section B.

A stop rod 32 is provided for the lower section having a head 33 whichis adapted to be moved into the recess 34 of said lower section, as-the'pie to be sealingly wrapped when the upper and lower sections A and .3come in contact with each other, and the cutting edge. 10 moves past orreaches the junction line 50 of the series of vertical teeth 29 andteeth extensions 30 of the lower section. Former teeth 26 mesh'withcutting ring teeth 29 at. all positions'of the parts.

The lower section may be heated by any suitable means such as thecircular heater 36 that is located in the recess 3'1. -Thisheater isprovided with a conductor 38 that may be connected to the same potential"as the conductors 25..

' In-operation, a series'of unwrapped piesmay be fedrone after theother, to the head,- but first,

- each pie hasbeen fed into'a loop-of cellophane so that the cellophaneextends atthe top and bottom thereof, or conversely, separate sheets ofcellophane may be fed with the pie to the head. This operation'may bedone either manually or may be performed by suitable mechanism, not

' shown. There are various machinesfor feeding articles and paperstogether to a forming head and the present invention is not concernedwith such-machines, as see Hausheer Patent -No.

2,232,783, February 25; 1941.

Once the pie has been positioned withth paper-both above and below it'onthe head 33,

. the lower section B of the head is moved upwardly. At this time thehead 33 of rod 32 is about level with the lower edge of the slantinsides 35. The lower section moves upwardlyuntil teeth 28- engage teeth3| in meshed relationship rand cause former 12 to move upwardly withinspace II.

This action continues until teeth 29 abut teeth 30 whereupon the cuttingedge reaches or'passes the junction line of teeth 30 and slanting sides35, a sealing and crimping action takes place to seal the two layers ofpaper and crimp. them; Substantially simultaneously the cutting edge I0severs the crimped and joined These paper letterEin scends, by asuitable mechanism, not shown. The

Iti will be noted that the vertical aetszmj the Qcutting ring, and the:vertical :andhorizontal teeth on the former and lower section B causeproper crimping of the extension E of the cover and that these teethalso perform the Very important dual functions of completely sealing theedges of the sheets of paper which form this extension so as to seal thearticle, and properly guide the former and lower section with regard toeach other as well as the cutting ring on the lower section B.

It should 'be'understood'that other 'g'uide means may be used than thevertical and horizontal teeth shown, and that the particular width ofthese teeth is of no consequence except that they shouldmesh with eachother so as to prevent relative movement between the parts when theupper and lower sections of the head are in engagement. It should alsobe understood that it is. not desired to limit this invention to theexact construction shown as the shape of it may be changed according tothe shape and size of the confection to be wrapped.

:The description and drawings are therefore to be construed. inanillustrative rather than a limiting. sense, :as I desire to be limitedonly to the .extent set forth by a reasonable interpretationaof theappended claims.

I claim:

31. A headfor applying a covering to an article and for-sealingrth'eedges'of the covering comprising a pair. of relatively movable sectionscomprising an upper section and a lower section, a cutting. andstrimmingring mounted on one of said sections, a former-mounted within said ringand means forcrimping andsealing said covering around said article, saidmeans including vertically extending 'guide members on the interior ofsaid cutting and trimmin ring, and cooperatnin'g. guide means on saidformer engagingthe first named guide means in meshed relationship.

2.- A head for applying a'covering to an article andTor-sealing theedges of the covering comprising a pair of relatively movable sectionscomprising an upper section and a lower section,

-abutting and trimming rin mounted on one of saidsections, a former"mounted within said ring and "means for crimping and sealing saidcovering around said article, said means including vertically extending'guide' members on the inte- -rior nf-said cutting and trimming ring,and cooperating guide means on said former engaging the-firstnamed'guide meansin meshed relationship, and. spring means forfloatingly supporting said former within said ring.

3. A head for applying a covering to an article and for sealing theedges of the'covering comprising a pair of relatively movable sectionscomprising an upper section and a lower section, a cutting and'trimmingring mounted on one of said- .sections, a former mounted within saidring andmeansior crimping and sealing said coverin around said article,said means including verticallyextending guide members on the interiorof saidcutting: .andtrimming ring, and cooperating guide means on saidformer engaging the ro'd ,32 is caused to move upwardly in the lower andfO -S g-the edges of e COVering .headto eject or move the pieout of thedepressionlformedby the slanting sides 35.. H

first named guide means in meshed relationship and yertically extendingguide members on the prising a pair of relatively movable sectionscomprising. an upper section and a lower section, a

cutting and trimming ring mounted on one of said sectionsa formermountedwithin said ring and means for crimping and sealing said covering aroundsaid article, said means including vertically extending guide members onthe interior of said cutting and trimming ring, and cooperating guidemeans on said former engaging the first named guide means in meshedrelationship and vertically extending guide members on the other of saidsections adapted to be engaged by said ring when said sections are insubstantial engagement with each other and matin crimping members onsaid former and the other of said sections.

5. A head for applying a covering to an article and for sealing theedges of the covering comprising a pair of relatively movable sectionscom.- prising an upper section and a lower section, a cutting andtrimming ring mounted on one of said sections, a former mounted withinsaid ring and means for crimping and sealing said covering around saidarticle, a rod mounted in said one section, a plurality of heating rodsconnected to said former, means mounting said former for relativemovement in said one section and passageways in said one section forsaid rods permitting relative movement of said rods therein as saidformer moves in said section, said first named means including aplurality of vertical cooperating guide members on said ring, former andthe other of said sections.

6. A head for applying a covering to an article, said head having aupper section and a lower section, a cutter mounted on one of saidsections and a former mounted on said one section, said sections beingadapted to be pressed together, means for biasing said former formovement toward said other section, and means for maintaining saidformer, cutter and sections in proper alignment with each other duringsaid biasing and when pressed together, said last named means includingguide members on the interior of said cutter and cooperating guidemembers on said former engaging in meshed relationship said cutter guidemeans throughout said biasing and pressing movement.

7. A head for applying a covering to an ar ticle, said head having anupper section and a lower section, a cutter mounted on one of saidsections and a former mounted on said one section, said sections beingadapted to be pressed together, means for biasing said former formovement toward said other section, and means for maintaining saidformer, cutter and sections in proper alignment with each other duringsaid biasing and when pressed together, said last named means includingvertically extending guide members on the interior of said cutter andcooperating vertically extending guide members on said former engagingin meshed relationship said cutter guide means throughout said biasingand pressing movement, and means for crimping and sealing said covering,said means including parts on said former and other section adapted tomesh when said former and other section are i engagement with eachother.

8. A head for applying a covering to an article, said head moving anupper section and a lower section, a cutter mounted on one of saidsections and a former mounted o said one section, said sections beingadapted to be pressed together, means for biasing said former formovement toward said other section, and means for maintaining saidformer, cutter and sections in proper alignment with each other duringsaid biasing and when pressed together, said last named means includingvertically extending guide members on the interior of said cutter andcooperating vertically extending guide members o said former engaging inmeshed relationship said cutter guide means throughout said biasing andpressing movement, and means for crimping and sealing said covering,said means including parts on each former and other section adapted tomesh when said former and other section are in engagement with eachother, said parts on said former being extensions of said guide means onsaid former.

9. A head for applying a covering to an article, said head having anupper section and a lower section, a cutter mounted on one of said sec-'tions and a former mounted on said one section, said sections beingadapted to be pressed together, means for biasing said former formovement toward said other section, and means for maintaining saidformer, cutter and sections in proper alignment with each other duringsaid biasing and when pressed together, said last named means includingvertically extending guide mem bers on the interior of said cutter andcooperating vertically extending guide members on said former engagingin meshed relationship said cutter guide means throughout said biasingand pressing movement, and means for crimping and sealing said covering,said means including parts on each former and other section adapted tomesh when said former and other section are in engagement with eachother, said parts on said former being extensions of said guide means onsaid former and means in both of said sections for heating said parts.

10. A head for applying a covering to an article and for sealing theedges of the covering comprising a pair of relatively movable sectionscomprising a upper section and a lower section, a cutting and trimmingring mounted on one of said sections, a former mounted within said ringand means for crimping and sealing said covering around said article,said means including vercally extending guide members on the interior ofsaid cutting and trimming ring, and cooper-- ating guide means on saidformer engaging the first named guide means in meshed relationship andvertically extending guide members on the other of said sections adaptedto be engaged by said ring when said sections are in substantialengagement with each other and mating crimpin members on said former andthe other of said sections, said crimping members on said former beingextensions of said cooperating guide means.

PAYTON A. TERRY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,647,289 Gwinn Nov. 1, 19272,076,291 Bodor Apr. 6, 1937 2,078,314 Busche Apr. 27, 1937 2,302,846Farmer Nov. 24, 1942

